The Girl from Cambodi

Looking into the lives of queer partners, Kong Dara continued his research from his artwork at Ho Chi Minh City to Taipei while he is in residence in OCAC. His residency artwork is centred around the field research on queer lives. As a gay person from Cambodia, he tried to understand partner relationships for gay and lesbian people in Taipei.

Kong Dara’s recent focus for his work is to continue to create a personalised Taipei City map, structuring around his own experience as a gay person from Cambodia. The project is about the relationships in the queer communities in Taipei and Cambodia. In writing to people he likes, he look into himself. He sketch out his complex experiences, emotions, and memories through pen, in order to find his personal and individual art perspective.

Besides making his own work, Dara also introduces his artists collective called Sa Sa Art Projects. He shares how they provide a window for the local community into contemporary art in active exchanging, sharing, and open participation events. This help the community to reimagine different possibilities of art.

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Kong Dara’s residency project at OCAC is centred around the themes of queer lives. He continues to develop and create a personalised Taipei City map, structuring around his own experience as a gay person from Cambodia. He sketch out his complex experiences, emotions, and memories through pen, in order to find his personal and individual art perspective.

The Time-Space Loops. -Southeast Asia -Taiwan Contemporary Art Interchange Exhibition This exhibition is trying to reflect the needs which we are seeking for territoriality. The “loop” is a metaphor for the heterogeneous culture in the contemporary Taiwan societies.

This exhibition is an examination and presentation of the creative environment and the personal relationship of the two artists since their establishment of the “San-Tin-Hái-Bī Studio”. “San-Tin-Hái-Bī” is a phrase written in cursive script on a spring festival couplet that a former resident left, inscribed with good fortune. A deeply...

Alternative Space? Artist-run Space? Alright, so today we have reached an understanding that “alternative space” has merely a historical connotation left, whereas “artist-run space” cuts directly to the chase, but still nothing is explained through these terms. We suggest a temporary halt on the investigation of terminology. The significance lies in what we do, what we did and what we will be doing next.

So what have you been up to? In short, we practice art and curate exhibitions. When able, we also organize forums, launch publications and initiate projects for international artistic exchange. If you haven’t the time to read the brief introduction on the back, all you need to remember is this: our job is to generate new dialogues between art and the public and to offer the world something different for a change, or at the very least, we try our best when making mistakes.

Why not simply focus on practicing art? It’s not that simple. In fact, there is no such thing as simply practicing art. Contemporary art and its viewers have broken away from the monotonous relationship of simply paying a visit to the museum. Whether people are aware of it or not, art has undoubtedly permeated into every aspect of our lives. Therefore, a genuine art practitioner would not shy away when met face to face with genuine public issues. We simply want to do it better.

Where does your funding come from? Unemployment subsidies. That was a joke. We operate with funds which come from our own pockets and occasional help from limited government funding—translation: we are often short of cash.

Are all members artists? We were founded as an artist-based organization, but are delighted to have recruited more and more members from interdisciplinary professions in recent years. As for the artists, you may still catch a glimpse of them from time to time carrying a spear and shield, riding a scrawny horse and followed around by a fox hound.

Can I join? Certainly, you are most welcome to join us. Please note, however, this is not a recruitment ad. Despite our wish to recruit more like-minded friends, we hope that all potential members first try to understand our situation before participating in anything. Acknowledgement of the process is in itself an important form of participation, which means that everything you imagine could be possible. In other words, we would love your attention starting from now.